It’s important to recognise that leadership differs from management in many ways. The main difference is that leadership is about motivating and encouraging employees, while management is about ensuring tasks are completed as intended.

Whether you are a leader, manager or employee, it’s useful to understand the different types of leadership and how these can shape and change an organisation. This article explains six common leadership styles and the advantages and disadvantages of each, as well as which leadership style is considered the most effective.

What are the Different Styles of Leadership?

There are many different styles of leadership and various theories, with some overlap between these. Leaders frequently adopt a range of leadership styles and an effective leader will understand how to adapt their style depending on the situation. However, they will often have one particular leadership style that they use most of the time. 

We will be covering six common types of leadership here, though there are numerous others:

• Coaching Leadership
• Transformational Leadership
• Servant Leadership
• Democratic Leadership
• Authoritative Leadership
• Autocratic Leadership

Coaching Leadership

Coaching leadership focuses on the needs of the team by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of individual members and the overall team. This provides individuals with direction to work to their strengths and develop themselves in weaker areas. Coaching leaders are committed to getting the best from each individual in their team through clear direction and support. The leader works with individuals to help them to identify their strengths and weaknesses and to understand how they can improve.

The leader must support their team with their development and provide each member with constructive feedback to improve performance. They should encourage the team to consider solutions to problems they encounter by asking prompting questions, rather than the leader making all the decisions. In doing so, team members feel included and listened to and will develop their ability to find solutions themselves.

Advantages of coaching leadership include:

• Objectives are clear and team members understand what is expected of them.
• Team members enjoy working as part of a group towards a shared outcome. 
• Effective communication and collaboration is encouraged.
• Weaknesses are addressed and individuals are supported to improve.
• Team members feel trusted and empowered, resulting in them being motivated and productive.
• Organisations develop talent, creating a skilled workforce.

Disadvantages of coaching leadership include:

• It can be time consuming to successfully implement because it includes one-on-one time with all team members.
• The leader must have the necessary skills and experience. They must be an effective communicator to ensure they deliver feedback in an appropriate way so that team members feel encouraged to improve, rather than criticised and unmotivated.
• Some teams may not want to work together in this way or want this type of leader. Individuals may resist attempts at coaching leadership and be uncooperative which can cause problems for the wider team.

Want to Learn More?

Our Coaching and Mentoring online training course is designed to give you the practical tools and techniques needed to get started with successful coaching and mentoring. We also offer a range of articles on the topic, including How to Develop Coaching and Mentoring Skills and Coaching vs. Mentoring: What’s the Difference?

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Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is characterised by leaders who take control and influence others through emphasising change and transformation within people and organisations. They engage others by recognising their needs, motivating them to succeed and developing a relationship of trust and participation. This type of leadership involves strong communication to encourage team members to feel invested in a shared vision. As with coaching leadership, there is a focus on people, with each individual’s potential recognised and leaders working with them to achieve this.

Advantages of transformational leadership include:

• The organisation innovates and changes for the better. People are guided by the leader to adapt to change and the challenges that may come with it.
• Team members feel motivated and have a sense of purpose. They understand and believe in a clear vision established by the leader and the part they play in achieving it.
• Individuals are supported to develop and grow professionally, increasing their skills and capabilities.
• Relationships within teams and across organisations are strong due to the trust placed in the leader.
• As a result, performance and productivity often improves.

Disadvantages of transformational leadership include:

• Individuals may experience burnout and feel overworked due to the perceived pressure to perform. If a leader is highly committed to an organisation, team members may feel as though they need to display the same level of commitment by working unreasonable hours.
• Individuals may feel under appreciated if they aren’t motivated or the leader fails to recognise their achievements.
• Some team members may require more structure and support than being led by example.
• Unless the leader provides clarity on the tasks that need to be completed, team members may be confused about responsibilities. This can result in a decrease in productivity.
• Team members may not raise concerns. As transformational leadership involves promoting a shared mindset, issues or different approaches may not be recognised or raised. Individuals may not feel comfortable with raising concerns if these could be interpreted as going against the shared mindset.
• For the leader, maintaining a high level of enthusiasm and engagement can become time-consuming and emotionally draining. 

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Servant Leadership

This type of leadership originates from the idea that leaders serve their team. Instead of exercising all power themselves, the servant leader shares this power with others, putting their needs first and supporting them to develop and perform well. The growth and well-being of the team is at the forefront of decisions.

Successful servant leaders must have the ability to listen, empathise and be self-aware. Servant leaders lead by example and are willing to carry out any task that needs doing in order to help their team. They strive to include all team members in decisions, ensuring that everyone feels heard, and make decisions that benefit those involved.

Advantages of servant leadership include:

• Team members are encouraged to be creative and empowered to share their ideas, resulting in more effective processes and greater investment in the organisation.
• It creates strong working relationships within teams and a productive working environment.
• Teams are inspired by the example set by the leader and feel motivated to do their best.
• Communication is effective. Leaders take the time to listen to their team and take action with this in consideration.
• When combined, these advantages establish a people-oriented culture which results in a decrease in employee turnover.

Disadvantages of servant leadership include:

• As the main focus is on ensuring team members are happy and included, leaders may be less demanding which could result in targets not being achieved.
• Some individuals may need a leader who holds them to account in order to work most effectively.
• The leader may be perceived as weak and lacking authority, particularly by those who are used to a more traditional style of leadership.
• For the leader, the role can be time-consuming and require a lot of effort to succeed in.
• Decisions and progress may be slow due to the required input of many people.
• In larger teams or organisations, it’s difficult to have frequent, effective direct contact with every team member.

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Democratic Leadership

Democratic leadership is where team members play a participative role in decision-making. The leader makes or approves the final decision, but everyone is encouraged to participate by contributing their opinions during discussions. All team members have the opportunity to share their input, knowing they play an important role in the decision-making process.

As well as overseeing the final decision, the leader must direct and guide the team to ensure that they don’t dedicate time to planning decisions that aren’t feasible and stray from the objective. Leaders should facilitate these conversations and support the team to reach a joint decision.

Advantages of democratic leadership include:

• Individuals are empowered to contribute to the decision-making process and feel engaged. This can increase their job satisfaction.
• Employees have confidence in themselves and their capabilities and aren’t afraid to share their ideas.
• More suggestions are put forward which leads to greater innovation and creativity.
• Teams learn to listen to one another and respect their one another’s valuable input. This creates mutual respect and fosters more effective teamwork.
• Productivity increases when individuals are motivated and involved.

Disadvantages of democratic leadership include:

• Involving more people in decision-making can slow the process down and cause delays.
• If there are differing options within a team, it can be challenging to reach a consensus that everyone is happy with.
• Some members of the group may not have the knowledge required to contribute to decision-making discussions.
• It can be difficult to maintain a clear focus if many different ideas are put forward for discussion. This can lead to confusion unless the leader is able to steer the team in the right direction.
• Leaders have a lot of responsibility which can result in them feeling overwhelmed.
• Team members may become frustrated if a decision is made which they believe isn’t the best option or they don’t feel as though their ideas are given enough consideration.
• Employees may expect to be involved in all decisions. This could lead to conflict if they don’t understand why they aren’t included in some decision-making processes.

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Authoritative Leadership

Authoritative leadership is a hands-on style which involves the leader establishing targets and processes and overseeing them to completion. Instead of simply giving orders, they explain their thinking and manage expectations. If successful, an authoritative leader makes quick decisions that deliver effective results.

This type of leader is seen as a mentor who guides and inspires team members and encourages them to follow them to successfully achieve common goals. By getting to know each team member well, the leader can provide them with tailored guidance and support to motivate them to succeed.

Advantages of authoritative leadership include:

• Fewer mistakes are made because the processes and rules are clearly defined by the leader.
• Clear processes and structure improves productivity.
• Leaders can look ahead and present an actionable vision.
• Employees feel motivated to succeed and perform well as a result.
• Difficult decisions can be made quickly without the input of the whole team.
• Team members feel supported and recognised by the leader.
• It’s an effective leadership style if an organisation is undergoing significant change or uncertainty.

Disadvantages of authoritative leadership include:

• There is a risk of leaders micromanaging their team which can cause individuals to feel as though they aren’t trusted or fearful of doing something wrong.
• Leaders may become overbearing, causing teams to disengage with their work and lose enthusiasm for the vision. 
• Extreme pressure may be put on the leader if they have to always be seen as leading by example.
• Failures in projects or processes are the responsibility of the leader who must accept accountability.

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Autocratic Leadership

Autocratic leadership, also known as authoritarian, follows a top-down approach to decision-making processes. The leader makes decisions based on their thoughts and ideas, with limited involvement from others in the organisation. It is expected that team members will follow instructions given to them by the autocratic leader and there is limited room for discussion. Power is held by the leader and isn’t distributed in any way to the team members.

This type of leadership is used less frequently in organisations today, though it may be suitable in some situations. For example, if a critical decision needs to be made immediately.

Advantages of autocratic leadership include:

• Team members are given clear instructions and understand how to complete tasks.
• Results are delivered on time and to a high standard. 
• Work environments are highly structured with everyone knowing what is expected of them and others.
• For team members, pressure can be relieved in stressful situations.
• The leader provides clear direction to the organisation.

Disadvantages of autocratic leadership include:

• Team members are discouraged from sharing their ideas and lack a voice in decisions.
• Morale can be low across the team and wider organisation. Some may be fearful about speaking out about poor leadership practices.
• Creativity and innovation are suppressed. Individuals can feel as though they aren’t valued or able to grow professionally. New perspectives and ideas which could hugely benefit the business aren’t shared.
• The leader may be under immense pressure as they feel responsible for everything.
• There may be tension and conflict in the workplace. 
• Morale can be low. If team members don’t feel satisfied at work, they may disengage and underperform, or seek employment elsewhere.

What is the Best Leadership Style?

Research by Kurt Lewin and his team in 1939 established three core leadership styles – autocratic (authoritarian), democratic (participative) and delegative (laissez-faire). Lewin’s study identified democratic leadership as typically the most effective leadership style. Democratic leaders encourage input from team members, while giving guidance and having the final say in decisions. This empowers and encourages team members to contribute creative ideas and play a key part in processes, often resulting in individuals with higher job satisfaction.

Today, most theorists argue that it’s important to recognise that there isn’t one leadership style that works the best in all organisations and situations. Instead, a strong leader will know how to adapt their leadership style accordingly and incorporate different skills to ensure the best outcome for the team and task. This is called ‘situational leadership’. Situational leaders are able to identify and meet individual needs, adapt between different leadership styles successfully, gain their teams’ trust, analyse problems and guide towards a solution and know how to support individuals with feedback.

However, in some environments, a certain type of leadership style will likely be more successful than others. If you work as a teacher in a school, you may find that transformational leadership style is the most well-received. Using this style, you can encourage and inspire your students to achieve their full potential. While, for army conflicts, an autocratic leader may be the most appropriate type to relieve pressure in stressful situations.

To find out which leadership style you should adopt, you need to consider what you want to achieve and the organisational circumstances in which you operate within. You should also consider your personality and how you currently lead teams. With this in mind, you could determine which leadership style you currently use and what you want to change and improve on. As there are numerous leadership styles and none are superior, you can experiment and see which delivers the best results for you, your team and your organisation.

Recognising which leadership style is right for you will enable you to develop your skills further and become the most effective leader possible. You must understand which style is appropriate and actively seek out constructive feedback from those you lead to understand what works well and how you could improve. As well as providing successes for the organisation, effective leaders develop and improve their teams to achieve their potential too.

Further Resources:

• Leadership & Management Training Online Course
• Leadership and Management Quiz
• 10 Development Areas for Managers

The post 6 Types of Leadership: Which Leadership Style is Right For Me? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

The cost of presenteeism is high, as not only does it cause productivity to drop, costing employers money, but it also adversely impacts workplace morale, health and safety and the wellbeing of employees. 

In this article we’ll cover what presenteeism is and what can cause it, as well as the financial and human costs it creates. We’ll also explain some of the things you can do to reduce presenteeism in your organisation.

What is Presenteeism?

Presenteeism is defined as reduced productivity at work due to health problems. It occurs when someone attends work despite being either physically or mentally unwell. Although, in most cases, they will be trying to work as hard as usual, their productivity and quality of work suffers because of how they’re feeling. 

This creates a ‘productivity gap’ between how productive they would usually be and what they can achieve while unwell. Presenteeism is costly for employers who are paying the same amount for lower quality or less work, as well as harmful to the person doing it and potentially those around them. 

Identifying and measuring presenteeism is challenging. Employers may not recognise that it’s happening because employees still show up to work and may hide any symptoms of being unwell. Or, they may not know what presenteeism is or be inclined to ignore it, thinking that the more their employees work, the better.

However, you can measure the impact of presenteeism on employee productivity using the Stanford Presenteeism Scale.

Presenteeism in Remote Workers

The increase in hybrid and remote working has made identifying presenteeism more difficult. Many peoples’ homes have become their workspace and, while working from home can offer freedom and flexibility, it can also cause the line between work and life to blur. 

This can mean that some remote workers struggle to ‘switch off’ and will work from home when they wouldn’t have gone to work otherwise. For example, if a remote worker is unwell, they may be more likely than a non-remote worker to still attend work as they don’t have to leave the house and won’t infect other people. 

There’s also less risk of their coworkers or managers realising they’re unwell or working at a reduced capacity when they’re only communicating through screens. They may even feel more obligated to attend work while sick because of the flexibility remote working affords them and this is just one of the reasons why presenteeism is on the rise.

Presenteeism Vs Absenteeism

While presenteeism involves an employee attending work when they shouldn’t because they are unwell, absenteeism is the opposite and occurs when an employee repeatedly does not come to work, without good reason. 

It may come as a surprise, but presenteeism is actually a bigger drain on workplace productivity than absenteeism. This is because people who take time off work can rest and recover, while those who attend work unwell can prolong their illness and, in turn, the time they spend in the productivity gap. The overall cost of presenteeism can end up being more than if they had just taken a day off. 

Leavisim is another workplace occurrence that drains productivity. This is when employees use their annual leave either to recover from sickness instead of taking a sick day, or to catch up on work at home. 

You may think that leaveism would benefit employers by increasing the hours employees work, without increasing pay. In actual fact, like presenteeism, leaveism stops employees from taking a well-needed break from work which can reduce their overall productivity and eventually result in burnout or brownout.

Burnout is where a person becomes completely overwhelmed, primarily by overworking or work-related stress, and has a physical or mental collapse. It can result from presenteeism.

Brownout is a form of presenteeism where a person comes to work but is tired, withdrawn, disinterested and discontent with their role or workplace, leading to reduced motivation and unproductiveness. You can learn about managing stress at work here. 

These phenomena are all detrimental to workplace productivity and all stem from flaws in an organisation’s culture and policies. 

Causes of Presenteeism

Presenteeism can happen in any kind of workplace but is more common in offices rather than settings that measure productivity based on physical acts, such as a construction site.

Presenteeism is also common among workers who feel responsible for others in their role, such as health or social care workers. However, there are lots of other factors involved in why someone might choose to come into work while unwell, including: 

• A lack of job security and/ or fear or seeming dispensable. 
• Fear of being reprimanded or perceived as not working hard enough. 
• Worrying they have taken too much time off already. 
• Feeling obligated to work remotely.
• Being unable to afford a sick day and/or a lack of paid sick leave. 
• Thinking they are the only person who can perform their role in a company or that others will be impacted if they are absent, particularly if there are staff shortages.
• Not wanting to miss a deadline or having a heavy workload. 
• Company loyalty and desire to be reliable. 
• Perceived pressure from management. 
• Unwillingness to disclose the reason for absence or feeling it isn’t ‘good enough’, for example, worrying that disclosing a mental health condition will lead to stigma or lose them opportunities. 

Effects of Presenteeism in the Workplace

Whilst presenteeism can cause your business to lose money and valuable working days, the real cost of presenteeism is a more human one. Alongside the impact it has on the UK economy, presenteeism also causes the following problems:

• An unhealthy workplace – if an employee comes to work with a contagious illness, they can easily pass this illness on to the people they work with, causing them to become unwell, too. This can lead to increased absence rates and even more presenteeism. 
• Employee’s aren’t able to recover – if an employee repeatedly comes into work while unwell, particularly if they are suffering from a mental health issue, they won’t get the time they need to rest and recover which could prolong or worsen their illness. If they are unable to work at their usual capacity or quality they may miss targets or deadlines which can cause a great deal of stress. 
• Lower workplace morale – working alongside a team-mate who is unmotivated, unhappy or disinterested can be an emotional drain on all members of the team and affect relationships. This can negatively impact morale and the workplace atmosphere, reducing motivation and productivity all round.
• Unsafe working – employees who come to work while unwell are more likely to have and/or cause workplace accidents as they are less focussed on performing tasks properly and safely. This puts both them and others at risk. 
• Lack of progress – presenteeism can cause a lack of personal and professional progress. If people aren’t giving tasks their full commitment then they’re unlikely to develop their skills and, if they’re not feeling great, may be less interested in developing themselves. What’s more, a lack of progress can cause roadblocks for other colleagues who may be waiting for the sick employee to get back to full health before assigning them tasks or waiting for them to get on top of their to-do list. 
• Reduced quality of work – even if someone is producing the same quantity of work while unwell, it’s likely that the quality will suffer and they may make mistakes that cost time and money. This can have a ripple effect, impacting other people’s work if they are relying on this person or working as a team.

Need a Course?

Our Resilience Training Course will help workers to build on their own levels of personal resilience and understand why it is important. To do this, it provides actionable steps for developing the five pillars of resilience: emotional wellbeing, inner drive, future focus, relationships and physical health.

Presenteeism Statistics in the UK

Presenteeism is becoming more and more common in UK workplaces, particularly among remote workers, and it’s an issue that employers, managers and supervisors literally cannot afford to ignore. The following statistics show the true cost of presenteeism in the UK: 

• Presenteeism costs UK employers up to £29bn a year, with presenteeism due to mental health having a more detrimental effect than staff absence.
• The cost of poor mental health of employees is estimated to be between £42bn and £45bn per annum, of which £29.3bn is due to presenteeism.
• 65% of HR staff report observing presenteeism in the workplace, while 81% report observing it among those who work from home.
• Almost half of workers (46%) admit to working despite not feeling physically or mentally well enough to perform their role.
• In 2022, employees lost 20.2% working hours from being unproductive, the equivalent of 51 productive days per employee, per year.

How to Reduce Presenteeism in Your Workplace

As an employer you need to look at whether some of the causes of presenteeism we listed earlier may be at play in your workplace. If so, there are some changes you can make to encourage healthier working among your employees, including: 

• Promoting a wellness culture – your organisational culture should promote the mental and physical wellbeing of everyone working there. You could introduce health promoting benefits, such as a cycle to work scheme, discounted gym memberships, subscriptions to mental wellbeing apps or private healthcare.
• Establish and communicate a strong sickness policy – you must communicate to employees that taking time off to recover when they’re unwell is important, encouraged and will not have negative consequences. Managers must also follow this policy to set a good example.
• Providing job security – if you can, offer guaranteed hours of work for employees rather than zero hour contracts and provide sick pay. This will give employees confidence that they can take time off for sickness without facing any negative repercussions.
• Improving communication – one problem with remote working can be a lack of regular communication. When line managers regularly check in with employees, they can identify if a worker is unwell or struggling with their workload and needs support. Managers should be trained to recognise the signs of physical and mental health problems and know how to provide support. You can learn about supporting mental health at work here. 

Mental Health Awareness

To increase your understanding of mental health and wellbeing, including how to support others suffering with their mental health and initiate conversations about mental health, you can take a look at our Mental Health Awareness course.

• Review absence policies – having a strict absence policy can drastically increase presenteeism. To make your absence policy less threatening to employees, make trigger points after certain lengths of absence positive rather than negative. For example, rather than giving a ‘warning’ after a length of absence, offer a wellness discussion to determine any issues and potential support you can provide to help them get healthy and back to work.
• Consult your staff – to get to the root cause of presenteeism in your workplace, you need to know what your staff think. You can put out an anonymous survey to staff to find out if there is anything that would put them off taking a sick day, such as an excessive workload or pressure from management. This will help to identify where changes need to be made in your organisation. 

When people don’t feel well, they can’t do their best work or be their best selves. If you want to create an organisation where employees are motivated, engaged and productive, you must accept that absences will happen, within reason. It’s your responsibility as an employer to promote wellbeing to reduce presenteeism, but also to make sure your employees feel they can take a day off when they need it.

Further Resources:

• How to Promote Positive Mental Health for Healthcare Workers 
• Managing Mental Health & Wellbeing in Hospitality 
• Work Related Stress: Your Responsibilities as an Employer
• Resilience in the Workplace: What are the Benefits and How Can Businesses Develop It?
• 6 Types of Leadership: Which Leadership Style is Right For Me?
• Mental Health Awareness for Managers Training Course 

The post The Cost of Presenteeism in the Workplace & Why it’s Not Just About Money appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

Any disciplinary process needs to be fair and transparent at all times. Communication is key and at no point should you spring news of dismissal upon an employee – unless, of course, the employee is being dismissed for gross misconduct.

This article will help employers, managers, supervisors, and members of HR understand how to go about conducting a fair and appropriate disciplinary hearing. We will reference employers as the overarching term for those leading the disciplinary process.

What is the Purpose of Disciplinary Procedures in the Workplace?

The purpose of a disciplinary procedure in the workplace is to set out how employee misconduct will be dealt with. This procedure is usually outlined within a policy and should be available for all employees to access and detail what behaviours or performance issues could lead to disciplinary action. Having disciplinary procedures in place helps to ensure a consistent, transparent and fair process for all.

However, not all workplace issues require such formal action to be taken. It may be appropriate, in the first instance, to have an informal chat about an issue. The aim of this would be to discuss how the problem can be resolved going forwards and highlight any support the employee may require. Communication skills are a vital element of our working relationships.

This could include further training that’s needed, more effective one-to-ones, or any other support both you and the employee feel may help support a change in their performance or behaviour.

It depends on your workplace’s policies and procedures, but an informal discussion like this wouldn’t always require the employer to put it on record – unless they deemed it necessary. If, or course, the issue continues, it would then be appropriate to consider a more formal disciplinary action.

A standard disciplinary process follows several steps, with different potential outcomes possible at the end. 

Disciplinary Procedure Steps

A formal disciplinary procedure should include the following steps:

An investigation – if it is decided that an investigation is required, this should involve the employer gathering as much information as possible regarding the employee’s alleged misconduct.

Any disciplinary action that is taken must be justified; therefore, finding out the facts and establishing evidence to inform any decision that’s to be made is a key part of the procedure. All information regarding the investigation should be accurately recorded.

A hearing – should the investigation find evidence to show an employee’s misconduct, they should then be invited to attend a hearing. This disciplinary meeting involves all the evidence being heard so that a final decision can be made regarding the appropriate course of disciplinary action to take, if any.

An outcome decision – having considered the findings of the investigation and hearing, a fair and justifiable decision should be made on the most appropriate course of action. That possible outcomes in place within your organisation should be outlined within the disciplinary policy.

For a decision to be reached, it may require further discussion between appropriate parties before a decision is reached, such as HR, legal representatives or other senior leaders. This will vary between organisations and the nature of the misconduct.

An opportunity to appeal the decision – the employee should be offered the right to appeal if they disagree with the outcome.

The next section will look in greater detail at what is involved in a disciplinary hearing, how to prepare for one and what to expect during and after the meeting.

Need a Course?

Our Disciplinary & Grievance Procedures Training is designed to help managers and employers ensure that they have a fair and consistent disciplinary procedure in their workplace. This and further useful training resources can be found within our Business Essentials course catalogue.

How to Conduct a Disciplinary Hearing

Remember, a disciplinary hearing is a formal action and one that should be completed in-line with company policies and procedures. It should be carried out fairly, with all steps taken to ensure all parties rights are met and that all proceedings are accurately recorded and documented throughout.

Preparing for a Disciplinary Hearing

As part of the preparation for the hearing, the employer should put certain information in writing to the employee, so they are fully aware of the following:

• Details of their alleged misconduct.
• The evidence that supports the employer’s claim.
• Their right to bring their own supporting evidence.
• The possible outcomes of the hearing.
• Their right to representation. 
• When and where the hearing will take place.

It is important to understand the rights of the employee, as failing to comply with these could lead to an unfair process. For example, if the disciplinary procedure is outlined within an employee’s contract and as the employer you have failed to adhere to, you could be held liable for a breach of contract and unfair dismissal.

It is also good practice to deal with all stages of a disciplinary process in good time and without any unnecessary delays.

What Happens at a Disciplinary Meeting?

During the meeting, both the employer and the employee will have the opportunity to speak and share evidence. In disciplinary cases, emotions and tensions may be running high, so it is important to have a clearly set out structure to the meeting and to allow everyone their turn to speak, uninterrupted.

Being skilled in conflict resolution can be hugely beneficial when it comes to bringing constructive outcomes from difficult situations.

The employer will begin by explaining the alleged misconduct, talking through and showing any supporting evidence they may have, including witnesses. All of this should have been provided to the employee in advance of the hearing, so they understand what to expect and also have the time to prepare their own case.

For the hearing to be fair, it is important that the employee gets to explain their case, respond to the allegations and provide their own evidence, including witnesses. They should also be given the chance to ask any questions they may have.

Notes should be taken throughout the disciplinary hearing and every effort should be made to ensure the employee attends the meeting. An employee may request to bring someone with them and they have the right to bring, a colleague, a union representative, or an official employed by a trade union.

If the employee requests to bring anyone else, this would be at the employer’s discretion and they do not have to accommodate the request.

What Happens After a Disciplinary Hearing?

Once the meeting is drawing to a close, it is important to clarify the next steps so that the employee knows when to expect a decision and what steps they can take if they disagree with the outcome. The type of disciplinary action taken will depend on the severity of the misconduct.

The potential disciplinary actions that may be taken are:

No action – it may be found that a misconduct has not taken place, in which case it should be made clear to the employee that the case has been dropped and they should be supported to positively continue their employment.

Verbal warning – also known as an informal warning. As mentioned previously, this is where an issue was found to be small and one that can be resolved with an informal discussion and perhaps additional support to rectify the problem. Having gone through the disciplinary procedures, the employer may choose to make a note of this warning for future reference, despite it being ‘informal’.

First written warning – this is a formal warning and is one that is usually the first action taken if it is shown misconduct has taken place. At this stage, the employer may give the employee a timescale, to either show improvement (in the case of poor performance), or within which they must not repeat the misconduct.

Final written warning – this can take place if the employee did not meet the requirements set out within the first written warning, or the misconduct were more severe in nature and met the companies requirements to skip the first written warning and action the final warning instead.

Dismissal – if, following a final written warning, the employee either does not improve or repeats unwanted behaviour, then the employer may have no choice but to move to a dismissal. If an employee acts in a way that falls under ‘gross misconduct’, the employer may move to dismissal without any verbal or written warning being required.

Regardless of the outcome decided, it is important that the employee understands their right to appeal. It must be clearly explained how to do so, and any information they need to be able to make their appeal should be provided.

They should set out in writing what grounds they have for making the appeal – with the employer responding with when and where the appeal hearing will take place.

Disciplinary Meeting Tips for Employers

The most effective way of approaching disciplinary processes and meetings is to ensure they are fair, reasonable and respectful. It can be a highly emotive time for all involved and it is important that a calm, professional manner is adopted at all times.

Always act in-line with your company’s policies and procedures, making sure the process is one that aims to support positive change to staff’s behaviour and performance where appropriate.

There will be times when staff do not attend meetings. This may be because they fail to turn up or are absent due to sick leave. As an employer you should make every effort to ensure staff have the information and support they require to attend.

Rescheduled appointments should be made for those that fail to attend.

If a failure to attend scheduled meetings continues to occur, there are several options that could be taken. It may be beneficial to involve occupational health or HR, as they may be best placed to decide if any reasonable adjustments could be made to help the employee attend, or they may determine that they are too unwell and attendance at that time is not appropriate.

After further investigation, the decision could be taken to postpone the meeting until their return from sick leave, that submitting their case in writing would be the best course of action, or that they should engage a representative instead.

It could also be determined that the employee is failing to attend on purpose, in such a case it may be necessary to decide the outcome of disciplinary action in their absence.

Always communicate how and why a particular decision was reached clearly and in writing.

Further Resources:

• Disciplinary & Grievance Procedures Training
• How to Conduct a Grievance Hearing: Tips for Employers
• Understanding the Different Types of Group Conflict: A Guide for Managers
• How to Use Key Phrases in Performance Reviews & Appraisals
• Signs of Conflict in the Workplace
• Managing Conflict in the Workplace: A Guide for Line Managers
• Importance of Respect in the Workplace

The post Disciplinary Procedures in the Workplace: Guide for Employers appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will outline what environmental awareness means and the important role it plays within the workplace. We will also provide you with a number of ways you can increase awareness and promote greener, more sustainable practices. 

What is Environmental Awareness?

Environmental awareness means understanding that for the earth to thrive and survive, it needs to be protected. For that to happen, we must all have an awareness of the natural world and the impact of our choices and behaviours. Our actions can either be positive and support environmental well-being, or be detrimental and cause it further harm. The act of making lifestyle changes to reduce any negative impact on the natural world is to be ‘environmentally friendly’.

Human activity affects the environment in many ways, such as pollution to land, air and water, the overuse of natural resources to an unsustainable level and our energy consumption and waste production. The consequences not only impact the earth’s ecosystems, wildlife and climate, but also the health and well-being of all human life. 

Environmental issues are numerous, and you may choose to focus on particular areas of concern over others. However, having general environmental awareness and an understanding of good practice can lead to a wide range of benefits. How you approach the task of raising awareness may depend on the circumstances of your business.

Environmental Awareness Examples

Environmental awareness can present itself in numerous ways, there is no right or wrong approach. Examples include:

• Taking a hands-on approach, such as volunteering projects that support the environment.
• Making physical adaptations within the office and/or workplace, such as recycling bins or energy saving practices.
• Consciously working to educate and support staff to adopt a more environmentally friendly mindset.

Raising awareness in the workplace and taking practical action to protect and support the environment can take time, as can seeing the benefits of your choices. Ensure you set both short and long-term goals and that the practices you put in place are both sustainable and measurable.  

It is often the case that a recycling bin, for example, will crop up in the work’s kitchen, with little mention of it from then on. Environmental awareness in the workplace isn’t simply about ticking boxes to look like a conscious employer, it is about understanding the why and the how.

Create measurable goals and keep questioning the effectiveness of your practices. How often does that recycling bin get full? Could it be more frequent? Are the correct items being recycled? If not, why not? 

Why is Environmental Awareness Important in the Workplace?

Environmental awareness is important in the workplace because the health of the planet is important to us all. We all benefit from the resources we get from the earth – the air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil that grows our food, and the plants and animals we live amongst. 

As an employer, the well-being and quality of life of all employees should be paramount. Many people are unsure how they can help the environment, making the workplace a vital source of education and support. The more people know, the better they will be able to make ‘green’ choices and understand the negative consequences of poor ones. 

Most of us spend the majority of our time at work, and so it stands to reason that our individual actions and that of the organisation we work for, should aim to protect the environment as much as possible. Environmental awareness in the workplace is important for encouraging a strength of leadership that not only represents the business’s social conscience and values, but also one that promotes engagement and an increased sense of purpose. 

There are ethical, legal and financial factors that encourage businesses to become more aware of their environmental impact and take steps to reduce it, such reasons may include: 

Improved Image

It’s becoming an increasingly important factor for consumers, investors and employees, to support a business who takes their environmental impact seriously. Those who invest in sustainable practices often gain an improved reputation, foster greater loyalty and trust and are more likely to avoid any negative publicity associated with harmful processes. 

Reduced Costs

Taking an environmentally friendly approach to business can save money in numerous ways, such as reduced energy and waste costs. Turning the heating down by just 1 °C, for example, can reduce your energy usage enough for you to save up to 10% on your energy bills. You may also be eligible for certain grants, loans or rewards for going green. 

Increased Staff Morale and Well-being

The physical changes to a workspace, such as added greenery, LED lighting and improved ventilation systems and initiatives, like a cycle to work scheme, can all help to improve the physical health and wellbeing of staff. Investing in staff is one way to boost morale, but working for a business with sustainable values can also encourage employee loyalty. 

Legal Compliance

The laws and regulations that dictate which green practices should be in place and which harmful ones should be avoided will continue to evolve as The Government continues to tackle the climate crisis. Being an environmentally aware business with sustainable processes as of now, will make remaining compliant a less costly and time consuming process further down the line. 

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 

As a business, making a profit is obviously important, however, CSR is essential for those wanting to operate in line with good practice. This means working in an ethical and sustainable way, and one that carefully considers its environmental and social impact. Read our article on the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility for your business for more information.

Want to Learn More?

Take a look at our Environmental Awareness Training Course, to help you to understand how to work in a sustainable, environmentally friendly way. Or, our Corporate Social Responsibility Training Course is ideal for those wanting to learn why taking care of people, the environment and the economy are vital for the long-term growth of their business.

Ways to Promote Environmental Awareness at Work

Raising awareness not only comes from education and training, but through actions, visibility and results. As a business, you should strive to encourage engagement with all green practices, ensure accountability and set measurable targets and goals. People will be more likely to get involved and adopt an environmentally focussed mindset, if they understand the benefits of their actions.

Whether at home or work, a universal aim should be to reduce energy consumption and waste, save water and avoid pollution, consequently reducing our carbon footprint. Let’s take a look at 10 useful ways you could help to promote environmental awareness at work.

Provide Training 

Ensure all staff receive training, as they need to be made fully aware of why certain changes are being made and their impact. All staff should be trained in the company’s environmental policies and procedures and what they mean in practice. Providing an external trainer who specialises in environmental awareness training in the workplace can help to maximise engagement. 

Get Involved

Getting the staff and company involved in community projects and/or environmental charities (such as tree planting projects), can help to raise your public profile, give back to the community and help encourage staff to get behind the company’s environmental aims. Certain projects can also help to offset some of your business’s carbon emissions.

Gain Accreditation or Certification

Going through this process can be a useful tool to help you evaluate all areas of your business, highlighting what steps need to be taken to ensure the appropriate standards are met. Once accredited or certified, it provides additional reassurance to customers and all those who touch the business, that you take your social and environmental impact seriously. 

For companies that have in place an environmental management system (EMS) – a system that assesses your business and helps to identify and manage environmental impact, these systems can also be certified to provide evidence of your environmental commitment.

Create an Environmental Policy and Guidance

An environmental policy should state your organisation’s commitment to reducing its impact on the environment, outlining key objectives that the company is following, any targets in place, how these will be achieved and who is accountable for them.

Guidance is incredibly important for all staff to understand the role they can play in reducing environmental impact and what is expected of them. With hybrid working increasing throughout the UK, providing guidance on green practices that can be adopted whilst home working, as well as within the workplace, can be very beneficial. 

Consider Environmental Champions

Having workplace ‘champions’ is a great way to ensure there is a knowledgeable point of contact within the business. They can be an existing member of staff who takes on additional responsibility or it could be a person employed specifically for the role. A dedicated champion can help raise awareness, encourage compliance and coordinate training. 

Carefully Consider Your Suppliers

It is worth doing research on your suppliers to ensure they too are committed to sustainable processes. Look at their corporate policies, do they have any environmental accreditation or certification in place? Are the materials used environmentally friendly? Are they ethically sourced? What is the impact of the supply chain and transportation? It is important to look at the impact of your business as a whole, including external suppliers. 

Reduce Waste

Many people will have heard of the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ saying, which applies to many areas of sustainability, particularly when it comes to managing our waste and energy.  Reducing waste could involve going paperless, ordering in bulk to reduce wasted packaging, effective stock management to avoid over ordering produce or perishables. 

Reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill can also come from adopting good recycling practices and using reusable items in place of single-use is another effective way to reduce waste, common examples are reusable cups, bottles, cutlery and straws. As an organisation, you could help to raise awareness of the importance of waste reduction by providing staff with some of these items, you could even include your branding. 

Save Energy

There are many ways to save energy, such as using energy-efficient lighting like LED bulbs, and conserving water by fixing leaks or adding a water saving device to toilet cisterns. Often, in a communal office it can be hard to know who is responsible for the heating setting or turning off the lights and appliances. Displaying checklists can be a useful way to make sure nothing is left on to waste energy needlessly. 

Communicate your Values

Not everyone may be aware of your company’s values and commitment to the environment. Therefore, it is important to communicate this to staff, customers and the community at large, as this will increase awareness of the important role businesses play in reducing environmental impact. You can achieve this via your website, your marketing campaigns and internal communications.

Incentives

Incentives can be a fun way to increase engagement and show, as a business, that you care. Many companies offer a cycle to work scheme, or other travel incentives that reduce the need for individual staff to travel by car to work, such as a reduced rate for using public transport or car shares. As a business, you can tailor incentives to work for you and get creative, ask staff what they would like and involve them in the process. 

Raising environmental awareness in the workplace is the responsibility of all employers. It brings benefits to the organisation, the workforce and the community as a whole. It is important to not only raise awareness, but to actively promote good practice to ensure the continued well-being of our planet and all those living on it. 

Further Resources: 

• Environmental Awareness Training Course
• The Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility for Your Business
• Environmental Awareness Quiz
• Recycling in the Hospitality Industry: How & Why Should We Do it?
• How to Implement Corporate Social Responsibility in Your Small Business

The post How to Promote Environmental Awareness in the Workplace appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will outline what team building is and why it is important. We’ll also look into the different types of team building activities and how they can be used to increase the performance of an entire organisation.

What is Team Building?

Team building is a collective term used to describe various activities that encourage social engagement and teamwork between employees in a business. These activities often involve a collaborative element, which promotes cooperation within a team, as people work together for a common goal. 

We’ll go into more detail about the different types of team building activities later in the article, however, there are five categories of team building. These are:

• Personality based.
• Activity based.
• Problem-solving based.
• Skills based.
• Social based.

Typically, team building helps employees to feel more connected to their colleagues, through the bonds they create and strengthen during the activities. This, in turn, helps to increase employee relationships throughout the business and carries over from the social setting into the workplace itself.

Why is Team Building Important in the Workplace?

Team building has many benefits and, as a manager or supervisor, it’s important that you embrace them. The statistics for team building clearly highlight this too – with a survey revealing that 82% of UK workers want their workplace to provide more frequent team building events.

We’ve outlined some of the benefits of team building activities below.

Better communication

Good communication is essential for great team performance. Team building helps to break down barriers in communication, especially between management and team members. By showing you’re approachable, employees are more likely to come to you with any problems that arise.

Improved team morale

When people begin to communicate better, it dramatically improves team morale. Moreover, it gives staff the opportunity to have fun and relax with their colleagues, which will increase productivity when they return to their work.

For more information on how to increase productivity, check out our article, here.

A better workplace culture

Team building exercises help to break down barriers between management and team members. They also increase the level of respect that staff members have for each other. This helps to increase levels of trust, build better team relationships, and mitigate potential conflict. These all create a much better workplace environment.

Improved skills

Team building helps to develop your leadership skills and makes people more aware of their team roles. Certain activities, such as those that require problem solving, highlight both individual and team strengths and weaknesses. You can then use this information to delegate appropriate work tasks, which will improve overall productivity.

Greater confidence

Your employees will feel more confident to approach their peers once they’ve communicated with them. For example, a worker who’s shy and anxious about approaching new people will be more inclined to do so after talking to people during team building exercises. Staff will also feel more confident in their abilities and job role.

For more information on how to motivate your team, check out our article, here.

Need a Training Course?

Why don’t you let us help with your employees personal and professional development? Take a look at our Business Essentials course library where you’ll find everything from Communication Skills to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training.

Types of Team Building

As mentioned above, the five types of team building are:

• Personality based.
• Activity based.
• Problem-solving based.
• Skills based.
• Social based.

Each category has different benefits. The types of activity will vary depending on the category you choose to pursue.

Personality Based Team Building

Personality based team building aims to recognise each member of staff’s personality type. All of your employees will bring different strengths to your team. While some people are more suited to being leaders, others are better matched to being creators or planners.

Understanding the various personality types is essential if you’re trying to bring an effective team together. Once you know the personality types of your staff, you can allocate people tasks that best suit their personality type. You should also discuss personality types with your team and develop the best ways for approaching tasks.

Activity Based Team Building

Activity based team building involves employees completing a series of activities and tasks. Often, teamwork is required from all members of the team to complete and succeed at these tasks.

The successes and the lessons learnt from these activities can be transferred back to the work environment. Furthermore, these activities create new relationships and a new level of closeness between colleagues.

Problem-Solving Team Building

This type of team building encourages people to work together and think logically to solve a problem. The members of a group will receive the problem and have to tackle its challenges together.

This prompts team members to rely on each other’s qualities and play to each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Skills Based Team Building

This type of team building offers employees workshops that help them develop certain skills. Employees are placed into teams to work on developing their skills, rather than being left to develop them in isolation.

These skills can then be used in the workplace and help to achieve the rewards mentioned previously, such as increased productivity.

Social Team Building

Social team building encourages employees to interact in a more social environment. This appears much less ‘try hard’ than other types of activity, and seems just like a social event.

However, it’s important to bear in mind that everyone has different preferences. For example, not everybody drinks alcohol. Activities need to be inclusive and accommodate everyone.

Team Building Activity Examples

There are countless team building activities you could choose to introduce to your team. However, to get you started, we’ve outlined some effective choices below and have categorised them into the different types of activities for your ease.

Personality Based Activities

Personality based activities could involve your team answering a Buzzfeed-esque quiz on ‘Which Shrek Character Are You?’ 

However, if you want to use the activity to better understand the personalities of your team, it’s best to use the verified assessments from professionals. A great example of a team personality test is The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Physical Activities

These types of activities are often outdoor pursuits and could include:

• Obstacle courses.
• Climbing, such as a climbing wall.
• Kayaking.
• Orienteering.
• Zip wiring.
• Trekking.

Problem Solving Activities

Problem solving activities could include:

• Board games: You could get staff to team up and play a game of skill, such as Articulate or Cluedo.
• Situational based discussion: These can be entirely made up scenarios. For example, ask a team to decide what three things they’d need in the event of being trapped on a desert island.
• Cup challenge: For this game, team members must work together to stack cups into a pyramid, using nothing but string and a rubber band. Team members must cooperate with each other to figure out what to do.
• Escape room: Although these are out of your workplace premises, the benefits are worthwhile. People are placed in teams and usually have 60 minutes to work together and solve a range of puzzles in order to escape the room.

Skills Based Activities

For skills based team building, workshops are a great way to develop and learn new skills. The types of workshop you could offer are:

• How to positively handle criticism.
• Ways of delivering feedback.
• How to deal with conflict.
• How to host effective team meetings.

Social Activities

Some social activities you can do as a team are:

• Going for a meal after work.
• Going bowling together.
• Attending a pub quiz.
• Arranging a trip to the cinema.
• Visit an activities centre such as indoor trampolining.

Again, if you decide on a social activity, be sure to be inclusive and accommodating to everyone on your team.

We hope that this article has helped to explain the benefits of team building. As a manager or supervisor, it’s crucial that you understand how important these activities can be for your team and wider business as a whole.

Further Resources

• Making the Right Hire: Interview Assessment Template for Employers
• Causes of Employee Turnover and Strategies to Reduce It
• How Online Training Can Benefit Your Business
• Tips for First Time Supervisors
• How to Promote Environmental Awareness in the Workplace
• How to Get Employees Excited About Returning to the Office
• Leadership and Management Quiz
• Understanding the Different Types of Group Conflict: A Guide for Managers

The post The Importance of Team Building Activities in the Workplace appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will outline the law on breaks at work, explain in detail a few reasons why they are so vital and provide some suggestions for employee break rooms.

What is the Law on Breaks at Work?

Depending on the type of work and hours worked, employers in the UK must give employees time to rest. Breaks allow employees to eat, drink, de-stress and find motivation, and having a dedicated space separate from the normal working environment maximises the benefit. 

It’s important, whether you’re an employer or employee, that you understand the legal rights people have in terms of rest breaks at work. 

The Working Time Regulations 1998 is the primary UK legislation that outlines provisions for rest breaks at work and time off. 

Under the legislation, there are three types of breaks for workers over the age of 18:

• At work, employees are entitled to a minimum of one uninterrupted 20-minute break if they work more than six hours a day. This break must be within their working time and shouldn’t be taken at the start or end of their working day. 
• Between shifts, employees are entitled to a minimum of 11 hours rest between working days. For example, if they finish work at 8pm they can’t start work again until 7am.
• During the week, employees are entitled to a minimum of an uninterrupted 24 hours without any work each week, or uninterrupted 48 hours without any work each fortnight.

The amount of time given for a rest break at work will depend on the company; some may stick to the minimum 20 minutes while others may give staff more.

Employers can decide when employees have to take their break as long as they fulfil the following conditions:

• The break is taken in its entirety at some point in the middle of the day – not at the beginning or end.
• Employees are allowed to leave their desk or workstation to take their break.

It doesn’t count as a rest break if an employee is required to go back to work before the break is finished by their employer. 

However, unless it is specified within their contract, employees don’t have the right to:

• Take smoking or vaping breaks.
• Get paid for rest breaks. 

You can find more information on rest breaks at work on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website and the UK government website.

Young workers

Young workers have extra rights to protect them because of their age. The rules on young workers apply from school leaving age until they turn 18. 

By law, a worker aged between school leaving age and 17 must not work more than eight hours a day and 40 hours a week.

They must also have, as a minimum:

• A 30-minute break if their working day is longer than 4.5 hours.
• 12 hours’ rest in any 24-hour period in which they work (for example, between one working day and the next).
• 48 hours’ (two days) rest taken together, each week or – if there is a good business reason why this is not possible – at least 36 hours’ rest, with the remaining 12 hours taken as soon as possible afterwards.

Why is it Important to Take Breaks at Work?

Rest breaks at work are vital for both our physical and mental wellbeing. The human body can’t stay in a static position for prolonged periods, nor can the mind focus continuously. 

Little changes of scenery and activity are perfect for a quick stretch, but a longer lunch break is equally as important. Regular breaks can also help prevent common office-related injuries.

Below are some of the most important benefits of taking regular breaks at work.

Physical wellbeing

As we’ve explained, the human body isn’t designed to be static for prolonged periods of time as this can lead to a number of health issues, including:

• Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). This refers to any injury, damage or disorder of the joints or tissues in the upper or lower limbs, neck or back that can cause discomfort and pain, such as repetitive strain injuries (RSIs). MSDs are especially common in office workers, if they have a poor desk arrangement and/or adopt bad postures. 
• Visual discomfort. Again, this is common with office workers who use display screen equipment (DSE). While it has not been proven that DSE causes permanent damage to eyesight, it is commonly associated with eye strain and fatigue.

Rest breaks help minimise strain on the:

• Lower back.
• Neck and shoulders.
• Thighs and bottom.
• Eyes.
• Wrists and fingers.

You should take frequent breaks away from your work area and walk about to break up long periods of sitting still. If you work at a desk, you should stretch, alter your position slightly or do some small desk exercises at least every hour. This prevents you from remaining static for too long, especially in an awkward or twisted position, as this can cause MSDs and headaches.

If you work in a role that involves manual handling or physical excursion, it’s important to take a break to prevent muscle strain and overuse.

Health and Safety Courses

Employees need to be sufficiently trained to handle occupational hazards, and understand how to keep themselves and others safe at work. Check out our range of Health and Safety courses, including Health and Safety Training for Employees, Manual Handling Awareness and Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Training.

Reducing stress

Most people experience stress at work, in varying degrees of severity. High workloads and demanding deadlines often result in employees skipping lunch breaks and working long hours. 

However, it’s important that you have a good work-life balance. Otherwise, it can result in a quick burn out, high levels of stress and high employee turnover. Taking regular breaks at work can help to reduce the risk of stress. 

Prolonged stress can create a number of symptoms including, but not limited to:

• Anxiety.
• Depression.
• Sleeping problems, such as insomnia.
• Backache, tension and muscle fatigue.
• Headaches.
• Irritability.
• Loss of appetite.

Check out our article on stress management activities to try at home. Equally, you may find our free workplace stress risk assessment helpful. 

Improving concentration and productivity

Our ability to maintain consistent attention dwindles after around 45 minutes, so stepping away from a piece of work, shifting attention to something else, and then returning with fresh eyes gives us a chance to refocus.

It can also help with productivity. This is defined as efficiently completing tasks or achieving goals, without compromising either the quality of the work or your physical or mental wellbeing.

It might sound counterproductive, but if you can feel your progress slowing down or you are struggling to complete a certain task, sometimes the best thing you can do is step away from the problem for a short while. This isn’t just applicable to office work, either, where you can leave your desk – this applies to any task in any setting. 

Taking five minutes away from the situation to reset allows you to return with a clearer head. This can help you to see the solution to a problem more clearly and therefore increases the chance of you completing it, making your day more productive.

For more information, check out our article: How to be Productive at Work: Guidance for Employees.

Mental wellbeing

Taking regular breaks is important for our mental health and wellbeing, especially in the workplace. Depending on where you work, this will be easier for some than others, but you can improve wellbeing with some minimal changes.

To switch things up, try:

• Making a round of tea or coffee.
• Stretch your arms and legs.
• Wash any dishes left in the kitchen sink.
• Water the office plants.

All of these things may seem small, but they can make a huge difference for our mental wellbeing, and you can return to work with a much clearer, more focused mind.

Mental Health Courses

We offer a range of Mental Health courses that have been developed by our team of experts to help you manage your own mental health as well as learn the skills to support others. These include Mental Health Awareness, Resilience Training and Stress Awareness in the Workplace.

Working from home

Over the past couple of years, many organisations have chosen to implement hybrid working, meaning there is a large proportion of the workforce that operate from home. Some companies have even introduced remote working full time, meaning that more people are working from home than ever before. You can check out our article on the benefits and challenges of working from home, here. 

The tips we provided earlier in the article are all still relevant and applicable to people who work from home – however, some are even more important to follow than for those working in an office full-time.

Rest breaks are just as important to take when working from home as they are in any other work environment. There can be a tendency to stay working at a desk for longer hours than you would in an office, due to the familiar setting, and there may not be anyone around to encourage you to take a break.

Break Room Ideas for Employees

In order to comply with the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, there are certain welfare provisions that an employer must provide for their employees. This includes, ‘so far as is reasonably practicable’ providing adequate and appropriate welfare facilities for them while they are at work. 

For all workplaces, permanent or temporary, minimum requirements must be met, including:

• A suitable seating area for workers to use during breaks. For example, facilities where employees can rest and eat meals. Where food is eaten, there should be a sufficient number of suitable tables and chairs with backrests. The area must also be clean and located where food will not get contaminated. 
• Suitable and sufficient sanitary conveniences. These must be provided for all users at readily accessible places. There must be separate conveniences for men and women, unless each convenience is in a separate room of which the door can be locked securely from inside. Sanitary conveniences must have a supply of toilet paper and a means of disposing of sanitary dressings.
• Storage for employees to store their own clothing, such as coats. This should be in an area of the work premises that is well lit and kept clean.
• Changing facilities. If specialist clothing has to be worn for work activities, there must be enough changing facilities for the number of people expected to use them. These should be readily available, and ensure the privacy of the individual.
• Washing facilities. These must be well lit, ventilated, and kept clean. Washbasins must be provided with hot and cold or warm water.  Where practicable, this should be running water. Facilities must include soap and a means for drying hands.
• An adequate supply of drinking water, which is free from contamination. This must be readily available to employees and others on the premises. Where water cannot be obtained from the public water supply, it should be provided via bottled water dispensers as a secondary supply.

You can find out more information on welfare provisions detailed in the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 in the HSE’s guidance, here. 

Generally, a break room includes a fully-equipped kitchen, including a kettle or tea and coffee machine and comfortable seats and tables. However, it can be beneficial to include some recreational aspects to encourage relaxation such as a bookshelf or a TV, and to enhance the environment with notice boards, photographs, plants, etc. 

It’s important to make sure that break rooms are accessible and an inclusive environment for all employees. Check out our article on How to Promote Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace for more information on this.

We hope you’ve found this article on why rest breaks are important for your business both informative and helpful. If you have any further questions, or wish to find out more information on the topics covered in this article, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at High Speed Training!

Further Resources:

• How to Promote Positive Mental Health in the Workplace
• The Cost of Presenteeism & Why It’s Not Just About Money
• How to Manage Stress at Work
• How to Deal with Anxiety at Work
• Promoting a Positive Health and Safety Culture: A Guide for Managers
• Workplace Health & Wellbeing Quiz
• Resilience in the Workplace: What are the Benefits and How Can Businesses Develop It?
• Health and Wellbeing at Work Training Course
• Menopause Awareness Training Course

The post Rest Breaks at Work: What are the Requirements? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we’ll define what key phrases refer to, why they are so important in performance reviews and provide you with a list of examples for inspiration.

What are Helpful Phrases for a Performance Review?

Key phrases are important in order to communicate feedback to employees during a performance review and encourage them to develop, progress and learn. Whether you’re communicating praise and positive feedback, offering constructive criticism or providing encouragement and motivation, using key phrases can help you to stay on message and communicate clearly and effectively.

During a performance review, the way you talk to your employees is extremely important. Employees may be feeling anxious about a review meeting, which is perfectly natural, so setting them at ease by using some helpful performance review phrases will generate better outcomes and make it easier for you to discuss what needs discussing. By setting a tone of partnership and collaboration, without judgement, you will both achieve better results.

The most helpful phrases for a performance review: 

• Focus on one central issue. 
• Focus on real-life situations and evidence, not assumptions or interpretations.
• Avoid referencing a person’s character or personality traits.
• Frame any issues as a concern, rather than an attack or failure.
• Consider any hurdles as a common problem, rather than pointing a finger and assigning blame.
• Ask employees to raise and clarify their own thoughts.
• Use open questions that encourage a free response, not closed questions that prompt a certain answer – i.e., ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers only.
• Promote a growth mindset in the employee.

Whilst it’s useful to use key phrases in your performance reviews, it’s also important to consider how you tailor your approach to each individual. Key phrases can be a helpful way to structure a review, but an individualised approach is most effective. So, avoid simply using generic, one-size-fits-all phrases and remember to tailor them to the individual.

This is particularly important if you consider how the review process differs depending on the circumstances of each employee. For example, it’s unlikely that you’d want to use the same format or questions for employees who are excelling as you would for those who need improvement.

Why are Key Phrases Important for Employee Reviews?

Performance reviews are a significant part of any employee’s development journey, which is why it’s vital to get them right by using key phrases. Key phrases can bring many benefits to employee reviews, for both the manager and the employee, because they can help to:

• Boost productivity.
• Increase pride in the company.
• Reduce the likelihood of burnout.
• Make time for managers to give thanks and boost morale for the year ahead.
• Allow employees to air any grievances.
• Alert managers to potential problems.
• Create better relations between managers and employees.
• Facilitate discussions about training and development needs.
• Nurture and improve workplace culture.

Furthermore, using the right phrasing in performance reviews is essential if you want to provide your employees with clear, actionable feedback. To ensure your feedback is always constructive and useful, no matter whether you’re praising someone, offering advice or encouraging them, use the ‘BOOST‘ model to structure what you say.

BOOST ensures that the feedback you give is:

• Balanced – focus on both the strengths and weaknesses of the person.
• Observed – base your feedback on what you have actually seen them do using real-life examples, not what you assume they’ve done.
• Objective – focus on actions they can take to improve and work together to come up with a solution.
• Specific – backup all of your comments with specific examples, whether positive or constructive.
• Timely – give feedback as soon as possible after the event you’re referring to.

By using the right key phrases, you’ll also be able to motivate your employees. To do this, you need to speak genuinely and truly mean what you say, as people can easily pick up on the emotions or intentions behind your words if you’re not saying them sincerely. Furthermore, use positive phrases to focus on things that you and the employee can do, rather than what they can’t, and think about how you can turn a problem into an opportunity to learn. Finally, be sure to address your employees directly using words like ‘you’ and ‘your’, as this builds rapport and trust, as does terminology that emphasises the importance of teamwork, such as ‘together’, ‘let’s’, ‘us’, and ‘we’.

Looking to Learn More?

We offer a range of Business Essentials Courses to help improve your people management skills. Find everything from Performance Appraisal Training for Managers , Leadership & Management Training and Communication Skills Training.

Examples of Performance Review Phrases

The sections below provide you with a few ideas of key phrases that you can use in your performance reviews to improve efficiency and results. 

Remember, you don’t need to stick to these phrases like a script – instead, use these as inspiration and tailor them according to each specific employee you speak to, using real-life examples of when they’ve demonstrated each point.

Performance Review Phrases for Quality of Work

Quality of work refers to how well the employee has met your expectations and standards in terms of their goals and/or objectives. Have they performed their role seamlessly and gone above and beyond? Or have they missed some key tasks and therefore have room for improvement?

Positive performance review phrases examples:

• You have excelled at the set objective/goal/task/etc.
• I can see you have a growth mindset and have worked hard to improve your quality of work, for example…
• You have matched/exceeded the set expectations/my expectations.
• You’ve gone above and beyond and done more than was expected of you, for example…
• You’ve made a substantial contribution to the company, for example…
• I appreciate the hard work you’ve put in.
• I am very grateful for your time and effort on this objective/goal.
• Your efforts have been noticed by senior management/the CEO/the client.

Constructive performance review phrases examples:

• I can see that you struggle to break down more complex issues, such as…, and have a suggestion for how to improve.
• I can see that you struggle to convey your ideas, such as…
• Unfortunately, you have missed some key deadlines, such as…, would it help if we provide you with tools, such as…
• I’ve noticed that you often make errors, such as… and have an idea of how I can help you with this.
• I can see you don’t always reach my expectations for you, perhaps we could try…
• Help me to understand why your quality of work isn’t as good as it could be.
• I appreciate the effort you’ve put in, so help me to recognise where you need support.
• Tell me about this objective/goal that wasn’t met, why do you think that happened?
• I can see you need to improve on your communication/timekeeping/etc, is there something we can do differently to help you?

Top Tip

You may encounter an employee wanting to discuss a potential promotion during a performance review and there are certain ways that you can respond if this is the case. If a decision has already been made to promote the employee, then tell them straight away. If you’re yet to make a decision, then be open with your employee about this and, if a promotion isn’t likely, be honest and explain to them clearly why this is the case.

Performance Review Phrases for Teamwork

Teamwork means how well your employee has worked with others, whether in their own team or across the whole business. It encompasses their relationships with their peers, how well they listen to others and how they make others feel respected and included.

Positive performance review phrases examples:

• You are always happy to ask for others’ opinions.
• You collaborate well cross-functionally, such as…
• I can see you have strong relationships with your peers and are respected by them.
• Your efforts have improved others’ work/wellbeing/etc, for example…
• You aren’t afraid to encourage collaboration between employees.
• You are respectful of others and listen to their ideas.
• I can see that you communicate effectively, for example…
• You have demonstrated respect for other team members’ strengths and acceptance of their weaknesses.
• You have a clear understanding of the team objective/goal and everyone’s roles within that.
• You are willing to share knowledge and expertise with others.
• It’s helpful to me that you try to ensure the team has the support it needs to complete work.

Constructive performance review phrases examples:

• Sometimes you are less willing to share your expertise with others, is there anything we can do to help you improve on this?
• I can see that you struggle to offer encouragement or feedback to your peers, tell me about what’s holding you back.
• I see that you find it hard to ask others for help, why might that be?
• It’s been raised with me that sometimes you interrupt others or don’t respect their opinions, for example…., talk to me about this? How can I help?
• It would be beneficial to improve your active listening skills when working with others, for example I’ve noticed that… let’s look at some tips to help with this.
• Help me to understand the way you see team achievements, as often you talk about ‘I’ and ‘me’ rather than ‘we’ – is there anything we can do to help improve the team dynamics so you feel more included?

Top Tip

Emotional intelligence is about recognising and understanding why people behave as they do and knowing how to respond to them appropriately. Emotional intelligence in the workplace is a vital aspect of teamwork and an area in which you may want to encourage employees to develop if you can see that they’re struggling to work with or support others.

Performance Review Phrases for Accountability

Accountability refers to how well an employee has taken responsibility for their work and their actions. This might include owning up to errors and taking on board feedback, but also their desire to develop and learn how to be better.

Positive performance review phrases examples:

• It’s great that you regularly ask for others’ opinions/360 degree feedback as this is very beneficial to your professional and personal development.
• I can see that you regularly ask for help and want to understand and learn, for example…
• You take on board the feedback that you receive.
• You have a growth mindset and seek new experiences and knowledge to share with others, such as…
• You are able to come up with creative solutions to problems, such as…
• I appreciate your ability to delegate well, such as when you…
• It’s great that you’re able to own up to your mistakes, such as….

Constructive performance review phrases examples:

• I can see that you struggle to delegate/manage delegated work/etc, how can I help you to improve this?
• It’s come to my attention that you can sometimes forget tasks/miss deadlines/not provide updates on work/etc, tell me about this, why do you think it might be happening?
• I’m aware that you often demonstrate a closed mindset and believe you can never get things right/do well/achieve the goal/etc, how do you think you can work on this?
• I see that you struggle to take responsibility for mistakes, shall we look at how this can be improved on?
• I want to make sure you understand my expectations, is there anything you’re not clear about that could be resulting in poor performance? How can I make things easier for you?

Top Tip

You may experience an employee wanting to discuss their pay during a performance review as a result of them feeling as though their level of responsibility or accountability entitles them to more money or a promotion. You should address this point immediately at the start of the review, and let them know that performance reviews are one of the factors that contribute towards pay increases. If appropriate, you can also tell them that a separate meeting will be scheduled to discuss pay after the review is complete.

Performance Review Phrases for Leadership

Leadership refers either to how capable an employee has been at leading their own team or which skills they’ve shown that prove they’d be a competent leader in the future.

Positive performance review phrases examples:

• It’s great that you resolved a problem with the objective/goal/etc, by doing…
• You’re capable of identifying solutions and have a willingness to overcome issues.
• You’ve successfully brought the team together and motivated others, such as when you…
• You have a positive attitude to change and have shown flexibility, for example…
• You are able to maintain composure in face of challenges, which is a great leadership quality.
• You recgonise the value of coaching your peers/team and can provide continuous feedback to others/take a sincere interest in others/etc.
• I’m impressed with the way you promote the company culture and live the company values, such as…

Constructive performance review phrases examples:

• I’ve noticed that you can be unwilling to listen to the ideas of others and sometimes take a ‘my way or highway approach’, is there anything I can do to help you listen better?
• I can see that you struggle to find solutions if there are problems with your work/team/goal/etc. Tell me why this area is difficult for you.
• Help me to understand more about why this deadline was missed/you became frustrated with this change/etc.
• Coaching is important for your team and I can see this is an area you need to improve in, let’s work together and come up with a solution.

Top Tip

If you have an employee who’s looking to improve their leadership capabilities, then training them up in coaching and mentoring skills is a great place to start. Consider our articles on How to Develop Coaching and Mentoring Skills or 10 Development Areas for Managers which can help give you and your employee some ideas to get them started on their journey towards a promotion.

Further Resources:

• Performance Appraisal Training for Managers
• 10 Development Areas for Managers
• How to Prepare for a Performance Review: Free Template
• Negotiation Skills Quiz
• Leadership and Management Quiz
• Tips for First Time Supervisors

The post How to Use Key Phrases in Performance Reviews & Appraisals appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

Many job roles require you to apply emotional intelligence in the workplace – consider how it applies to roles in healthcare, social care and education – but it’s also essential for office-based roles, managerial positions and to support analytical thinking. No matter who you are or where you work, applying emotional intelligence will benefit you.

In this article, we’ll look at the importance and benefits of emotional intelligence in the workplace, a few examples, and provide a few tips on how to improve your own emotional intelligence in the workplace.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, understand and regulate emotions. It’s about recognising and understanding why people behave as they do and knowing how to respond to them. Emotional intelligence is also sometimes known as emotional quotient or EQ.

The Five Components of Emotional Intelligence

Psychologists state that emotional intelligence has five main components:

1. Self-awareness – our ability to understand ourselves, to recognise and comprehend our behaviours and emotions and to know how these can affect others. It also refers to having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses so that you can take responsibility and always act on your beliefs and values. It means admitting to mistakes, understanding your faults, holding yourself accountable and being honest.
2. Self-regulation – our ability to control impulses and moods and consider the consequences of our actions before we do them. Self-regulation enables you to stay in control of your emotions. It means not making rushed decisions, jumping to conclusions, judging people or reacting emotionally to situations. It means behaving with humility, remaining calm under pressure and not compromising on your values.
3. Internal motivation – being driven to work hard, perform, act and pursue goals for personal reasons, rather than for a reward. As a team leader, recognise when you’re being positive or negative about something and strive to be hopeful and find something good in all situations, as this will help motivate your peers to work their best.
4. Empathy – the ability to recognise and understand others’ emotions, motivations and situations. This helps to build and lead teams successfully – listen to your team and your peers, show them you care and respond to their feelings. If you can take an interest in people, challenge those who are acting unfairly and give useful feedback, you will quickly earn the respect and loyalty of your team members.
5. Social skills – the ability to build and manage relationships, network, lead, manage conflict and work with others. Teams work well together when they are led by an inspiring, caring leader who looks after the people in their team, listens to their problems and successes and keeps them involved at every stage of the project.

Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace Examples

Emotional intelligence in the workplace means:

• Recognising people’s strengths, capabilities and limits.
• Showing empathy and trying to understand the perspectives of others.
• Using emotions appropriately to convey meaning.
• Managing conflicts.
• Encouraging teamwork.
• Understanding your own reactions to situations.
• Understanding how other people’s reactions differ and tolerating these differences.

For example, if you’re a manager or team leader, you’ll need to apply emotional intelligence in the workplace by: recognising which of your team members are best for each task; communicating effectively so everyone understands their work and your expectations; encouraging and motivating the team to work together; and handling any problems or conflicts that arise.

As an employee, you can apply emotional intelligence in the workplace by: understanding the different ways your peers may approach a task and being empathic to their differences; recognising when a conflict may arise and avoiding it or handling it appropriately; working harmoniously as a team; understanding how you react to difficult situations or conversations and using this knowledge to your advantage; and managing relationships with your peers.

Why is Emotional Intelligence Important in the Workplace?

Workplaces are relational environments, meaning they contain a range of different personalities, skills and strengths that all must work together to achieve a common aim. Emotional intelligence – such as empathising with others and understanding their motivations and decisions – is therefore essential for workplace harmony and success.

In the workplace, emotional intelligence helps us look after our mental health and strengthens our ability to lead. It helps us to manage effective relationships and protect ourselves when it comes to conflict. It also allows us to understand the thoughts and feelings of others and consider the consequences of how we act. This makes emotional intelligence in the workplace intrinsic to our future success.

A lack of emotional intelligence in the workplace, however, can cause a detriment to relationships and wellbeing. It can make difficult conversations even harder, make it tricky to understand other people’s opinions or reactions and increase the chances of conflict or misunderstandings. This is why it’s such an important skill to possess.

Benefits of Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

There are many benefits to embracing emotional intelligence at work, whether you’re an employee, a manager or a team leader, including:

1. More Motivation

Those who have higher levels of emotional intelligence have a better ability to organise themselves and their workload, self-regulate their tasks and time and have more motivation to accomplish things. This reduces the tendency to procrastinate and increases the amount of work you get done. In turn, this also generates greater feelings of accomplishment and improved self-confidence.

2. Improved Communication

People with high emotional intelligence can express themselves clearly and create effective networks between themselves and others. They are open to asking others for help and know how to communicate their plans clearly. Those with high EQ also make transparent leaders as they know how to communicate to the rest of the organisation and can listen actively to what their team is saying. They can control themselves, their thoughts and their emotions to lead others in a positive direction.

3. Better Acceptance of Feedback

A key attribute of those with high emotional intelligence is self-regulation, which makes them much more accepting of feedback. Rather than taking criticism personally, they use it as a platform from which to grow. It also prevents sudden outbursts of emotion and creates clearer lines of communication and feedback across your whole organisation.

4. Greater Staff Stability

Staff members with a higher EQ are more positive about their work and their situation. They try to see the positive side of everything and aren’t deterred by adversity or a challenge. As a result, they’re more likely to feel positive at work and, if something bothers them, they think of the best way to approach it and fix it. In turn, this keeps staff retention rates high and turnover rates low.

5. Improved Mental Wellbeing

There’s a strong correlation between high emotional intelligence and a happier, more positive outlook on life. Furthermore, those with a higher EQ are also better at empathising with others’ points of view, which helps to prevent conflict at work and promotes a more diverse, inclusive workforce. This makes your workplace a much nicer environment to be in and is something all organisations should strive to achieve.

Looking to Learn More?

We offer a range of Business Essentials Courses that can help you to develop the skills you need to be successful. Find everything from Leadership & Management and Effective Leadership to Communication Skills.

How to Improve your Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence doesn’t remain the same over your lifetime, nor is it something you’re born with or cannot achieve. Although it takes work, you can easily improve your emotional intelligence and see your workplace, work life, and personal life all improve as a result.

To improve your emotional intelligence, try the following top 10 tips:

1. Observe yourself. Be self-aware and understand your emotions so they don’t rule their actions. Pay attention to what your emotions are telling you in various situations and then respond accordingly.
2. Be proactive, not reactive. Self-regulate your emotions to prevent them from hijacking your reactions. Think before you act and walk away from any situation that makes you feel too reactive until you can think clearly and offer a constructive response.
3. Identify your weaknesses. Are there communication skills or people skills that you’re better at than others? Take a look at areas where you struggle – such as offering feedback or giving compliments – and focus on how you can improve.
4. Ask for the help of others. Don’t assume you know everything already or cannot change the way you are. Instead, ask for the opinions and feedback of others and use what they say to help you improve.
5. Develop a growth mindset. A growth mindset means embracing the opportunity to learn and grow. Believe that you can improve your skills and knowledge with effort and don’t let your failures or self-limiting beliefs hold you back from trying.
6. Set milestones and rewards. Set yourself a small goal in an area you wish to improve and allow yourself a reward when you achieve it. Choose something like ‘Compliment 5 people this week’ or ‘Request 360 feedback from my colleagues’ – anything that will help you to apply your emotional intelligence skills in the workplace.
7. Practise every day. If there are aspects of emotional intelligence you want to improve, continue to work on them each day or each week. Personal development takes time, consistency and effort for it to become natural.
8. Build your resilience. There are often times when things go differently to how we planned or we feel like we’ve failed or can’t do something. Approach each situation with optimism rather than pessimism and ask yourself ‘what can I learn from this experience?’ to turn every negative experience into a positive journey of growth. To learn more about resilience in the workplace, take a look at our article on the topic.
9. Don’t judge other people. Empathise with other people and try to understand the reasoning behind their actions or words. We all make mistakes, have different values and are on a different life path, so be patient, understanding and inclusive of everyone.
10. Listen actively. When you’re talking to someone, focus on what they’re saying and not just on what you want to say next. Really listen to their words and their meaning, looking out for emotional cues. Put yourself into their position to understand their intentions.

What to Read Next:

• The Importance of Upskilling Staff in Your Business
• Resilience Quiz
• Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Quiz
• The Consequences of a Lack of Training in the Workplace
• How to Promote Environmental Awareness in the Workplace
• Leadership and Management Training
• Coaching and Mentoring Training

The post What is EQ? A Guide to Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

For meetings to run smoothly, it is crucial to have someone to act as the meeting chair. In this article we will outline the responsibilities of a chairperson, explain some of the skills required and discuss how to chair a meeting effectively, along with providing some useful tips.

What are the Roles and Responsibilities of a Chairperson?

The role of a chairperson is to help meetings run smoothly and efficiently, while ensuring the agenda is followed. It is their responsibility to lead the meeting, maintain order and ensure everyone gets to have their say. Furthermore, if the meeting goes off topic, it is the chairperson’s responsibility to guide the conversation back to the agenda and stick within the time constraints of the meeting. 

The chairperson is important because all meetings, even if they’re small or informal, need some direction and organisation. Without a chairperson, meetings can run late, lead off topic and prevent people from having their say. 

The main roles and responsibilities of a chairperson include:

Getting through the agenda –  the chairperson needs to work through the agenda, introducing and covering all items whilst keeping an eye on the time and moving the discussion along if necessary. They must be able to guide ‘off topic’ conversations back to the main points of the meeting while ensuring that everyone has a chance to contribute. 

Involving everyone – meetings should involve discussion and debate, however, as a chairperson, you need to ensure everyone is heard. This can often involve encouraging those who are quieter in meetings to have their say while sometimes restricting those who over talk. 

Reaching decisions – it is the chairperson’s responsibility to pull together the points discussed and reach a decision. If there are different points of view, they should be summarised and the potential decisions should be presented clearly. Before moving to the next agenda item, the chairperson should clarify and confirm the decision that has been made. 

Maintaining order – sometimes the chairperson will have to deal with challenging people or heated discussions. It is their responsibility to be firm, consistent and remind people of the meeting rules. 

It is important to note that meetings might take place face-to-face but also virtually as remote working is becoming increasingly popular. How the meeting takes place can affect how the chairperson carries out their role. 

The following can impact how smoothly a virtual meeting runs:

• Being unable to see people’s body language. 
• Missing verbal queues, for example, a pause for thought might be interpreted as the person finishing what they were saying. 
• Difficulty knowing who will talk next and when. 
• Technical difficulties, such as drops in signal, interrupting the flow of the meeting. 

The chairperson may have to work even harder during virtual meetings to ensure they run smoothly. Remember, if you are the chairperson, you have been given a role to fulfil and you must remain in control of the meeting – even if it is virtual. 

In some cases, you may want to have a rotating chair. This means that each person gets a chance to be the chairperson and the role is swapped each time there is a meeting. This method spreads out the responsibility and gives everyone a chance to run the group. It can also result in people being more understanding of the chairperson once they have had to fulfil the role themselves. 

What Skills Do You Need to Chair a Meeting?

A good chairperson helps meetings to run smoothly and efficiently. To ensure that the chairperson can fulfil their role and responsibilities, there are certain skills that are needed. 

Some of the skills that a good chairperson will have include:

• Remaining attentive to what is being said in the meeting, this involves active listening which is a very useful skill to acquire. 
• Time management as the chair is in charge of covering the agenda within a particular space of time.
• Note taking, the chairperson is sometimes required to take minutes of the meeting, or at least take note of the actions for the next meeting. 
• Being fair and drawing a balance between hearing everyone’s views and getting through the agenda. 
• Preparing for the meeting, this involves making the room ready (if the meeting is face-to-face), ensuring the agenda is correct and making attendees aware of what is expected of them. 

Looking to learn more?

Our Business Essentials Courses cover the fundamentals that every business needs, including Communication Skills, Minute Taking and Equality and Diversity. Take a look if you want to learn how to make your business even more successful.

How to Chair a Meeting with Confidence

As mentioned, there are many useful skills that a chairperson should have to ensure meetings run smoothly. There are also some tips you can follow to help you, however confidence in your role will come with time and practice.

Before the Meeting

There is a lot of preparation involved in running a meeting to ensure it will be successful. If you are the chairperson, there are a few things you need to do to prepare for a meeting:

• It is paramount that you understand the purpose of the meeting and the overall goal so you can ensure that the discussion is productive. 
• You should prepare the meeting agenda and ensure you understand each point. The agenda should be based on the main purpose of the meeting that you identified beforehand.
• Ensure any presentations, electronics and other devices are set up and tested in advance. 
• Prepare any food or drinks that will be served during the meeting. 
• Send a reminder to all attendees before the meeting, if necessary. 

During the Meeting

One of the responsibilities of the chairperson is to let everyone have their say, therefore, you want everyone to feel welcome and comfortable about speaking and putting their point forward. Here are a few tips:

• Welcome people as they arrive.
• Make sure everyone has an agenda (put them on the chairs or hand them out at the door). 
• Introduce yourself and any speakers.
• If it is a small meeting, ask everyone to introduce themselves.
• Explain to everyone what the meeting is about and outline the rules of the meeting. For example, don’t interrupt people and respect other people’s views. 
• Take notes and minutes throughout so you aren’t relying on your memory and don’t forget anything after the meeting. 
• Ensure everyone has their say, this includes not allowing interruptions from other people whilst someone is talking. 
• Keep moving forward and stick to the agenda. 
• Keep your eye on the time to make sure all agenda points are covered sufficiently, this can mean bringing the conversation about one agenda item to a close. If necessary, you can organise a future meeting about certain topics that require further discussion. 
• Direct people to make a note of any questions they have so they can be discussed after all agenda points have been covered. 

After the Meeting

After all the agenda items have been covered, you should open the meeting for questions and AOB (any other business). Following questions, you should outline clear actions for the next steps. These should include who is going to carry out each action, what each person is going to do and when this will be completed. 

When everyone is content that their questions have been answered, you should thank all attendees for their attendance and end the meeting. 

After the meeting you should check through the minutes and notes taken, then email them to all attendees. This should include the purpose of the meeting as a reminder and outline the agreed next steps. 

Tips for Chairing Meetings

Chairing a meeting can be a daunting role to undertake, especially if you have never done it before. We have discussed the skills required for the role and outlined what to do before, during and after a meeting. Below are some general tips for chairing a meeting:

• If there are conflicting ideas, summarise the points on each side and ask for other people’s thoughts. If someone is continually critical, ask them for their ideas about how to approach the situation. 
• It’s important to stick to the agenda to keep things moving and ensure each point is touched upon. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t allow the meeting to stray away from the agenda once every point is covered. Try to strike a balance between accepting input that falls outside the agenda without allowing the meeting to become side-tracked. 
• If it’s a larger meeting, you might want to assign some roles and responsibilities to others. For example, asking someone else to write the minutes.
• Don’t be under-assertive. You’ve been given a role, and people will be looking to you for guidance. Don’t be afraid of speaking out.
• If lots of people want to speak, keep a list of whose turn it is to speak next to remind you. Make sure people know you have noticed that they want to speak.
• Stop people from talking for too long. Be firm and consistent but not aggressive. If someone is talking for a long time, interrupt them and say something like “thank you for your contribution, you’ve raised some interesting points. I’m going to stop you there for the moment so other people can comment on this issue.”
• Give preference to people who haven’t spoken before. Say something like “I know you’ve got your hand up, John, but I’m going to take Mary first as she hasn’t spoken yet.”

The purpose of any meeting is to determine a successful outcome. The best way to check if you have chaired an effective meeting is to determine a clear outcome and a way to move forward. After the meeting, refer back to the purpose that you identified before, did you achieve this? 

You could also ask attendees for feedback when you send them the meeting minutes, to check on how successful you were in your role as chair. 

What Should You Do if the Meeting Overruns?

Always start meetings on time. Delaying the start to wait for late comers is disrespectful to those who arrived on time, and it reinforces unprofessional behaviour. You should start on the dot and any late arrivals will get the message if you consistently start without them. 

Be prepared and aware of when to move on from one agenda point. The most common cause of meetings overrunning is prolonged debate. If you are struggling to reach an outcome, it is generally a sign that the attendees need further information or time to research the issue. The best approach is to stop the discussion and reconvene at the next meeting.

Any new issues that are raised under AOB, should not be discussed at the meeting if you are short of time. They belong on the agenda of a subsequent meeting.

A chairperson is crucial for a meeting to run smoothly. It is their responsibility to ensure all agenda items are discussed and to maintain order throughout. There are certain skills that are beneficial to have if you are fulfilling the role of chairperson. Some general tips include keeping an eye on the time, being assertive and sticking to the agenda. 

Further Resources:

• How to Improve Active Listening in Communication
• How To Take Useful Minutes Of A Meeting
• Minute Taking Quiz
• How to Write a Business Letter & Envelope
• 6 Types of Leadership: Which Leadership Style is Right For Me?
• Online Business Essentials Courses

The post How to Chair a Meeting Effectively appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

There are many negative consequences of poor staff retention, and HR leaders are increasingly recognising the importance of having robust retention strategies in place, with this issue set to become a top priority going forwards. 

This article will look at what employee retention is, why it is important and how employers can attract and retain talent. We will also provide some examples of strategies you could implement to help improve employee retention and increase motivation. 

What is Employee Retention?

Employee retention refers to an organisation’s ability to prevent undesirable levels of staff turnover and sustain a workforce that chooses to remain in their employment rather than to leave and seek opportunities elsewhere. 

A company’s retention can often be shown by a simple statistic, such as a percentage of how many employees left and remained during a set time frame and results can be looked at comparatively year on year.

Sometimes, a more in-depth view may be needed to gain a clearer picture of how problematic the situation is. For example, those that retired during the set time frame may be excluded when analysing retention levels and causes of concern. 

Regardless of industry or organisation type and size, understanding how to retain staff is necessary for all employers. Gaining an understanding of why staff leave can help inform new strategies and processes that aim to encourage staff to stay. Everyone from employers and employees to customers and partnerships can benefit from a well motivated and productive workforce. 

Want to learn more?

Having people within your organisation that understand how to support others to be the best they can be is an invaluable asset. We offer courses in Leadership and Management, Professional Development and Coaching and Mentoring to help you achieve your retention goals and make the most of your workforce.

There are many reasons why staff choose to leave their employment and whilst some are personal and can not be prevented, there are some common themes that every company would benefit from considering when it comes to improving employee experience and increasing retention. Causes of employee turnover can include:

• Poor work-life balance.
• Lack of flexible working.
• Low staff morale.
• Poor management and leadership support.
• Low pay.
• Lack of career progression.
• Not enough training and development opportunities.
• Poor working conditions.

Each of these causes can be addressed and improved with some time and investment. Investing in these areas and current staff are just some of the ways your business can show the importance it places on valuing its employees.

Why is Employee Retention Important? 

The quality and contentment of a workforce is often seen as a reflection of the business itself. It is easy to think that a company with a high staff turnover does not value their staff and therefore may not value their clients, customers and partnerships either. 

There can be many negative implications of poor employee retention, including:

• Increased recruitment costs – this can come from the time and resources required to advertise, interview and induct new recruits, as well as the advertisements and/or agency costs involved. 
• Poor reputation – this could come from word of mouth or via reviews from past employees or customers that have had negative experiences.
• Reduced productivity – depending on the nature of your business, this could mean being unable to meet project deadlines, not keeping up with stock and delivery demands, or struggling to maintain customers etc. 
• Poor team morale – this could come from the underlying reasons for staff leaving, becoming disheartened to see colleagues go, or from the added work pressures that come from being under-staffed. 

Employee retention is incredibly important to not only avoid these negative issues, but to reap other benefits that can lead to a more successful business. Some of which include:

• Reduced recruitment costs – the time and money required to recruit new staff can be incredibly costly, money saved could be used to invest in current staff. 
• Increased employee loyalty – having long-term staff can increase loyalty and promote a workforce who are more likely to believe in and work toward the company’s goals. Loyal staff tend to be more productive, engaged and responsive to the needs of the business.
• A more skilled workforce – the longer staff remain with the business the more knowledgeable and skilled they can become, invest in their training and development and consider promoting internally. 
• Better working relationships – staff who have worked together for longer will better understand each other, this can benefit teamwork and collaboration and create a more open and supportive network.
• Improved culture and working environment – when staff are happy, the working environment is more positive. Positive, long-term employees support and encourage a good working culture. 
• Increased productivity and revenue – by retaining staff and avoiding frequent periods of understaffing, the business is likely to be more productive, leading to increased revenue. This productively not only comes from a consistent workforce, but also happier staff. 
• Happier customers – having more consistent and experienced staff and good staffing levels can lead to better relationships and a higher-quality service being delivered to customers.

As technology continues to develop and change both our working and day to day lives, employee retention becomes more important than ever. Businesses need a stable and skilful workforce to support and navigate the future before us. 

How prepared is your business for the rapidly changing future of work? Download our latest report to discover the key to keeping up in an age of digital transformation.

Impact of Technology on Employment 

One of the first steps to successful staff retention is the recruitment process itself. There are many ways to help ensure the most suitable candidates are targeted and recruited, and technology now plays a large role in that process.

From the numerous job sites and apps available to the applications and interviews themselves, technology can be involved throughout.

The way technology is used within your business will likely depend upon its nature and size, but for many, its use is becoming an integral part of daily life and utilising its benefits can help improve many areas of business.

For example, it is well known that the onboarding process has a significant impact on employee experience and retention, and therefore harnessing the benefits of technology to improve training, communication, contact and support during this time can be a great asset. 

The right technology can also help staff to work more autonomously, which often helps them to work more flexibly, and gain greater satisfaction and motivation in their work. 

As new developments in areas, such as automation, machine learning, robotics, analytics, and connectivity become more accessible, it is important for employers to think about the role technology will play in the future of their business and what new skills their workforce will need going forward.

This can be a great opportunity to challenge and develop staff and  improve engagement and interest whilst renewing motivation. 

Reskilling and upskilling staff can be an important part of continuous professional development. For further insights into the impact of technology on employment, take a look at our articles – What are the Skills for the Future of Work? and What is the Importance of Digital Skills in the Workplace?

When looking to teach new skills, technology can provide access to a range of training and support opportunities, whether via text, video calls, websites, e-learning or apps.

It can improve internal communications and help employers to reach out to employees in an accessible and flexible way, particularly useful for those working remotely and unsociable hours. It can also be utilised to seek out and attract new talent for the business. 

How Might Employers Better Attract and Retain Talent?

It is important to attract the right candidates for both the vacancy advertised and for the organisation as a whole. Recruiting in this way helps to avoid wasted time and resources on recruiting those who are unlikely to go the distance and have a long, successful employment with you. 

To help attract new talent:

• Clearly set out the company’s values and culture.
• Provide an accurate and informative job description.
• Be clear on what skills and experience you require from the candidate.
• Showcase the benefits and perks on offer.
• Highlight a commitment to learning and development.
• Show that you understand the importance of staff wellbeing. 

To retain both new and existing talent:

• Encourage continuous learning and development.
• Have retention plans in place.
• Recognise and reward good work.
• Ensure good working conditions.
• Implement a workplace health and wellbeing programme.
• Listen to staff and encourage honest and open communication. 

Successful retention requires planning and the implementation of strategies designed to motivate, develop and drive employees in successful employment within the business.

Strategies to Improve Employee Retention and Motivation

When developing strategies to improve retention and motivation it is important to understand the needs of the workforce. Often there can be benefits and rewards in place for staff that do not reflect their needs and therefore provide them with little motivation. You can not improve people’s desire to stay if you don’t have processes in place to learn why they leave. 

One way to improve retention and motivation is to provide staff with opportunities to give feedback as it can be a useful tool in detecting areas for improvement. This could come from discussions during a one-to-one, staff surveys or exit interviews.

Look out for patterns and repeated themes, have staff members left for more progressive roles? Are you receiving and declining a number of training requests? Is time off for stress related issues a common occurrence? 

Aside from focussing on the reasons for leaving, there are several ways to help motivate staff and increase their engagement, loyalty and satisfaction within their role and the company as a whole. When setting out a retention plan, consider:

• Having clear career progression pathways.
• Providing training and development opportunities.
• Supporting both personal and professional development.
• Ensuring quality and effective management and leadership within the organisation. 
• Having staff recognition programs in place.
• Promoting a healthy work/life balance.
• Fostering a supportive and inclusive environment.
• Providing flexible working opportunities e.g. flexitime, remote working, flexible hours and job shares.
• Utilising and encouraging specialised skills, for example being a T-shaped employee- What Does it Mean to be a T-Shaped Employee?
• Working with a purpose and developing a culture that employees can feel passionate about being a part of.
• Offering a benefits and perks package informed by the needs of staff.

Ensuring there are processes in place to help recognise and retain employees and their value within the business, such as investing in their training and development and providing effective leadership, helps to create and maintain a happy, productive and successful workforce. 

Further Resources:

• How to Upskill Yourself 
• Resilience Training Course
• Transferable Skills: What Are They and Why Are They Important?
• How to Develop Coaching and Mentoring Skills
• Tips for First Time Supervisors
• Report: The Future of Work
• Employee Turnover in Hospitality: Causes and Retention Strategies
• Leadership and Management Quiz
• 6 Types of Leadership: Which Leadership Style is Right For Me?

The post Employee Retention Strategies: Guidance on Retaining Staff appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.